Seminoles set basketball non-conference schedule
By Chuck Walsh
Seminoles.com
The nationally ranked Florida State Basketball team will play 11 non-conference games – including five at the Donald L. Tucker – as head Coach Leonard Hamilton announced the Seminoles’ non-conference schedule.
Florida State begins its home schedule on Nov. 10 against first-time opponent Penn, and plays five games at home on its non-conference schedule.
Florida State is one of three teams in the nation that has played in the Sweet 16 each of the last three NCAA Tournaments (Florida State, Gonzaga, Michigan) and is one of six teams in the nation that has won at least one game in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments (Florida State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan, Villanova, and Florida).
Including its season opener against the University of Pennsylvania, the Seminoles play host to Tulane (Nov. 17), Boston University (Nov. 24), Lipscomb (Dec. 15) and North Florida (Dec. 21) at the Tucker Center, which Hamilton and his program have developed into one of the more difficult places in the nation for opponents to play.
Florida State is 77-4 (.951 winning percentage) in its home arena since a victory over Notre Dame on Feb. 27, 2016.
The Seminoles open their road schedule at Florida on Nov. 14. Florida State has won seven consecutive games against the Gators dating to a 65-63 win in Tallahassee on Dec. 30, 2014. The Seminoles’ seven-game winning streak ties the longest by both teams in the series, which began in 1951.
In addition to playing five games in Tallahassee, the Seminoles will play two games in Jacksonville and one in Sunrise as Hamilton continues to schedule games around the state of Florida to bring the Seminoles closer to their loyal fan base.
Florida State plays Loyola Marymount (Nov. 21) and either SMU or Missouri (Nov. 22) in the championship rounds of the Jacksonville Classic at the University of North Florida Arena. The Seminoles play UCF (Dec. 18) in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise.
Florida State will travel to play at Purdue (Nov. 30) in the 23rd Annual Big Ten / ACC Challenge. The game will mark the third meeting between the two teams in the Challenge, with Florida State holding a 2-0 lead in challenge games. The Seminoles defeated the Boilermakers in challenge games during both the 2005 (97-57 in Tallahassee) and 2018 (73-72 in Tallahassee) seasons.
The Seminoles face South Carolina in Rock Hill, S.C. (Dec. 12) at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center. The Seminoles’ game against South Carolina marks the first game between the two teams since the 2006 NIT. Prior to that, the two teams met at least twice each season from 1980 through 1991 when both teams were in the Metro Conference.
“The quality of the teams on our non-conference schedule will give us a great indication of where we are as a team in the first 11 games of the season,” said Hamilton. “With six new players who are going to play major minutes, the difficulty of our early season schedule will give them a good idea of what it takes to prepare to play all of the teams on our schedule.
“With road games at Florida and Purdue and neutral site games against South Carolina and UCF we are going to have our hands full before we even think about playing our ACC schedule. Purdue is expected to be picked to win the Big Ten, Missouri is a SEC team who will have their best squad under Coach (Cuonzo) Martin and UCF is a team we lost to at home last season. This is a very challenging schedule – one that will force us to be at our best beginning with our opener against Penn.”
Florida State has finished 12th or higher in the national polls in each of the last three seasons (2021, No. 10; 2020, No. 4; 2019, No. 12) and led the ACC in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage shooting and 3-point field goal percentage shooting during the 2020-21 season. Florida State is 73-20 (.785 winning percentage) and is 40-13 (.754 winning percentage) in ACC regular season play since the start of the 2018-19 season.
